Whatever would we do without onions? This multi-faceted, multi-flavored member of the lily family presents us with one of the most valuable and versatile ingredients in the kitchen. Red, white, yellow, green, Maui, Walla Walla, Vidalia, scallions, chives – I love them all. And all bring important flavors and consistency to so many dishes. A […]

HELENA – Republican candidate for governor Roy Brown says signing bonuses of $10,000 should go to some of Montana’s beginning teachers. Brown’s proposal would require legislative approval. Brown says that in allocating the bonuses he’d like to emphasize rural areas. Rural schools often find teacher recruitment harder than do urban schools. Brown has not settled […]

MISSOULA – Missoula County officials concerned about road-easement discussions between Plum Creek Timber Co. and the U.S. Forest Service have received some easement details from the company, which says more information will be provided. Deputy County Attorney D. James McCubbin said the information, posted Friday on the county’s Web site, is relevant to an underlying […]

The visitor center at Lone Pine State Park creates an educational environment where patrons can learn about living in the interface between wildlife and urban growth. Beyond the front doors of the recently expanded center, a small grizzly bear mount is seen stepping on a garbage can. The setting recreates the front porch of a […]

Call it the real-life version of “Northern Exposure,” the old television series premised on the idea that Alaska is not a state but a state of mind. With John McCain’s selection of Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, Alaska’s quirks, oddities, and institutions are under the world’s microscope. And the world is confused at […]

In its 10th year, North Valley Music School in Whitefish is reaching a crescendo. For years the school’s reputation and enrollment have been building, stressing the confines of its small building – a 1930s house on Spokane Avenue. Now, to accommodate the growth, the school is adding teachers and opening two satellite locations – one […]

HELENA – Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s remarks about election manipulation clearly were in jest and no one who heard them at a Philadelphia conference took them seriously, says a Montanan who was in the audience. “There was no doubt in anybody’s mind in the audience what this was,” Great Falls lawyer Larry Anderson told a reporter […]

Cross country is a rare high school sport in which the top performers – on the girls’ side, at least – are often freshmen and sophomores. It’s largely a biological phenomenon, combined with the simplistic mechanics of the sport itself. Girls’ bodies are mature enough to run long distances when they’re 14 or 15, but […]

In the back roads west of Whitefish, East Edgewood Drive runs to the Blue Moon through several old family ranches. Horse and cow pastures line the road. Bleachers even ring a few small rodeo arenas. Now just at the west entrance to Edgewood, a cowboy shop is ready to play to its rodeo crowd. Walk […]

Good morning and happy birthday to the late, great Barry White. On the Beacon this morning, Plum Creek Timber Co. announced yesterday it was eliminating 35 jobs at its medium density fiberboard plant in Columbia Falls. Myers Reece looks at the cross country season, and the phenomenon specific to the sport in which freshman and […]

A retired Kalispell doctor accused of abandoning 12 puppies at a dump site in Somers pleaded not guilty Thursday to felony aggravated cruelty to animals. John L. Heine, 74, was arraigned in Flathead County District Court. The puppies, only two of which survived, were found Aug. 21 in a garbage bag at a dump site. […]

9:02 a..m. Someone working in Bigfork called in to report that they had a headache. 12:50 p.m. The owner of a car that was towed is refusing to pay the bill. 1:13 p.m. An elderly man in Columbia Falls was passed out in his car with his mouth wide open. 4:23 p.m. Two calves were […]

The economy is in poor shape. So Democratic Sen. Barack Obama will win the November election with 51.5 percent of the two-party vote. At least that is what Yale University economist Ray Fair predicts, based on a model that uses mathematics and economic data going back to the 1916 presidential election. It assumes voters make […]

When it comes to the presidential race, everybody hates the press right now. The left is disgusted with the media for failing to reveal untruths in recent McCain ads and the fawning attention over V.P. pick Sarah Palin. On the right, the media’s disrespect toward Palin is apparently such that she is exempt from doing […]

As a parent of a Bigfork High School football player, I have become increasingly disillusioned along with other parents, (who wish to remain anonymous fearing their football player will be benched) at the lack of action from the Bigfork School District. Last year, at the beginning of the football season, we (the community, coaches, and […]